Growing From Our Roots:

How Mercedes Made Its Mark on F1

It started with Carl and Bertha Benz. The former submitted a patent for the world’s first ‘motor car with gas engine operation’. The latter showed the world it was more than just words on paper.

Bertha’s 100km cross-country excursion in 1888 is heralded as the world’s first long-distance automobile journey and set the wheels in motion for what was to come.

“Before me, no automobile existed,” Bertha once declared. She was right.

Six years later, and when the element of competition reached the automotive world, Benz was right in the thick of it. A single car took the start at the world’s first-ever recorded motor race, the 1894 Paris-Rouen.

At the hands of Émile Roger, the car finished 14th. Our racing roots had begun to grow.

While the competitive edge gripped the Three-Pointed Star after the marque’s official founding in 1926, our F1 journey would not begin until nearly three decades later, four years after the inception of motorsport’s pinnacle racing series.

The Silver Arrows found success immediately. A one-two on debut at the 1954 Grand Prix with Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling in their W196s was followed months later by Fangio’s second world title.

A third would arrive a year later. Across two seasons of racing, Mercedes entered 12 Formula One World Championship events. And won nine.

Modern Era Merc

It was 1994 when Mercedes returned to F1, as an engine supplier for Sauber, based in Brixworth – known now as Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP).

A partnership with McLaren would form from 1995 and occupied Mercedes’ sole interest in the sport until the end of 2008. It was a relationship that would bring one Constructors’ and three Drivers’ titles.

Ten years into that stint, current HPP Managing Director Hywel Thomas would join the family. Hywel was immediately impressed.

“Working at Mercedes felt like a different level to anything I had experienced previously,” he recalls.

“It was a big deal, and operating at the sharp end of the grid made you feel more connected to the sport. You wanted to make sure every decision was the right one.”

Mercedes themselves made a big decision a handful of years later, announcing their intention to return to the sport of F1 as a works team for the first time in 55 years for 2010.

“Having Mercedes come back as works team was really, really exciting,” says Hywel.

“We had worked with them before and knew the people and their capabilities. We knew if they were going to do something, they were going to do it right.

“It was an opportunity to grow and move forward with the investment on the table and take everything to the next level.”

Over in Brackley, the Three-Pointed Star was preparing to move in, but for some, the seeds of growth had been planted over a decade earlier.

Sporting Director Ron Meadows is as much part of the foundations of our team factory as the some of the bricks themselves.

At the start of 1998, Ron was part of the initial ground-breaking ceremony for our site. But with British American Racing preparing to set up shop for 1999, time was tight.

“We were challenged with getting the main operations centre up and running in about eight or nine months,” says Ron.

“When I first arrived in Brackley, it was just a field! We had a small base about one kilometre away from where we are currently, that was where we started designing the first BAR.

“So many of that team are still here today. We’ve gone from BAR, BAR Honda, Honda, then Brawn, and now obviously Mercedes.”

Remember that excitement Hywel talked about at hearing Mercedes was re-joining as works team? Ron could sense it too and saw the impact Brackley’s new tenants were having straight away.

“It was chalk and cheese from where we are now. We had produced a successful car with Brawn, but we had shrunk because we didn’t have the budget,” he says.

“Mercedes came on board and immediately recognised where we were lacking and started planning for the future, to build the infrastructure to give us what we have today.”

And what we have today is a world-class campus, ready to cultivate the next generation of Formula 1 cars, in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.

Each area of our operations offers opportunities to create change, not only to improve our own sustainability performance but to recognise our responsibility to support and inspire others on their sustainability journey.

At the helm of all that, is our people.

Chief People Officer Anca Raines knows better than any what it takes to be part of the Mercedes family.

“Without our people, we simply wouldn’t exist. From the outside that sounds simple, but these are not just any people,” she says.

“Ultimately, we are a team, and the kind of people we look for are the ones who come to work every day with the drive and willingness to give that little bit extra, unprompted, to help the team win.”

“Our whole reason for being here is to make those two cars go as fast as possible and go faster than everyone else and win.”

And winning was something the team was fortunate enough to experience. From the beginning of the turbo hybrid era in 2014, the team claimed eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships, and seven Drivers’ Championships.

Unprecedented achievements, but something Hywel and the team at HPP never let distract them.

“We had been head down on the 2014 Power Unit for years and working with everyone in Brackley was so much fun,” says Hywel.

“It obviously turned into this unbelievable period of success and you could feel the excitement and the buzz, especially the first couple of years, but we never took it for granted, at any stage.

“In a business and a sport where everyone's trying to excel, there's going to be a period where it's not quite as successful.

“But what you do during those periods is just as important, trying to make sure that we understand what's not gone quite so right, and making sure that we're evolving and putting in place the things that we need to for the future.

“In the early days, we used to talk about trying to be one team, but I think we're able to talk about less of that now because we just are.”

A big part of who we are can be put down to a certain Austrian, and we’re not talking about Toto.

It would be remiss of us to mention the story of Mercedes F1 and not discuss Niki Lauda’s impact on our team.

Niki – our non-executive chairman and friend of the team from 2012 onwards – was straightforward, honest, and forthright. He pursued his goals with passion and resolve.

At every race since Niki’s untimely passing, a red cap has hung at the entrance to our garage. It reminds us of his incredible contribution, what he stood for, and encourages us all to live up to the lofty standards he set.

Featuring on every car since has been one special three-pointed star turned red, mirroring the colour of Niki’s cap. Every lap we turn is done so with Niki on board. And that will be the case for long into the future.

Every time our race cars return to the factory in Brackley, they – like each and every team member – drive down the road that now bear’s the great Austrian’s name: Lauda Drive.

Truly, we take Niki with us wherever we go, and that his spirit will always be at the very heart of everything we do.

Whether Brackley or Brixworth, that team spirit is something Anca sees every day.

“A few things always stand out to me. We surround ourselves with incredibly smart, yet humble people,” she explains.

“There is a real sense in the organisation that people don’t take themselves too seriously but take their work very seriously. That humility is refreshing and unique.”

“Then there is the openness of communication. Information is freely shared and not hoarded as a sign of power, from Toto right throughout the organisation.”

Building Brackley

As Ron has already alluded to, while Team Brackley was celebrating a hard-earned 2009 championship triumph, Mercedes was busy plotting the future.

Fifteen years on, what has changed? And what is still to come?

“We have developed fantastic facilities over the past 15 years. We have an incredible wind tunnel, all the dyno rigs for gearbox, engine, and simulators,” he explains.

“We have a completely new machine shop, and completely new composite facilities. The outside of the building is more or less identical in shape, but inside it is totally different.”

Brackley is as important to our team’s success as the cars and drivers who sit behind the wheel themselves.

“The site sets the standard of where we want to be as a company,” adds Ron.

“Everyone is very proud when they walk through the gates and see what they have to work with.

“We want for nothing, it’s just up to us to come in and do a job.

“We have fantastic benefits and support, physios, doctors, a restaurant and a gym. And we are still growing. It is an absolute world-class company to be a part of.”

It's not just our team members we consider family, it’s our partners too. One partner in particular has been a constant in the Mercedes dynasty since the beginning of the Brackley days: PETRONAS.

On silver or black, PETRONAS has proudly adorned the side of our race cars from day one in 2010.

In Singapore in 2024, the entire bodywork of the car was turned emerald green to celebrate PETRONAS’ 50th anniversary.

A few weeks later in Austin, we toasted 300 Grands Prix together.

PETRONAS lubricants have been the blood to our beating Power Unit hearts for as long as the Mercedes F1 works team has existed in the modern era.

“They are such a key part of the team,” says Hywel.

“They push us forward, and we push them forward. They have continued to deliver whatever is asked of them, and the relationship from both sides has remained incredibly consistent over the years.

“We understand each other so well, and that helps us work together best. Without them we would not have a PU.

“Our work with them over the last few years on the journey to 100% sustainable fuel highlights that.

“Both sides have a responsibility, and the fact that all sides are willing to put everything into making that a success just tells you everything you need to know about the members of that team and how they're all pulling together for the common goal.

“It has elevated the partnership to the next level.”

From next level, to next generation. While plans for future infrastructure need to be put in place, so too do plans for those who will benefit from those future surroundings.

PETRONAS are at the forefront of those blueprints, too. Our PETRONAS interns programme is proof of that.

First started in 2011, the seven-month-long scheme aims to integrate a small group of students from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS in Malaysia into our Brackley family, allowing them to showcase their engineering expertise and drive us forward while creating a unique opportunity to study and work abroad for a Formula One team.

“It’s a fantastic programme,” says Anca.

“It is so lovely to watch their journey through the year, and see how much experience they gain just by being here, not just at work but in their own life, being in a different culture and environment.

“They get so much from their time here, and then as they go back into the university and beyond they can share our team ethos and let others know what we are all about, whether they're employed by PETRONAS or if they eventually make their way back to us.”

But what does all this really mean to our sport, and what does our sport mean to Mercedes?

Ron and Hywell believe the Mercedes and Formula One connection runs deep, its importance recognised at all levels.

“When you speak to Ola [Ola Källenius, Mercedes-Benz CEO] about Formula One, he's incredibly passionate,” says Ron.

“It's not just the something they do on the side, it's part of the core values. I think that's also engrained within everyone who's involved in the race team, and all the team members who have been here a long time.

“Mercedes do it right. They want to win the right way, and that's how Toto has always emphasised.

“We do it right, we do it fair, and we give our utmost.”

Hywel adds: “F1 for Mercedes is an incredible showcase for the abilities and the talent that the company has.

“In this new regulation set, the sustainable fuel, what's going to happen with that in the future, the EV [Electric Vehicle] side, and the fact that we're able to do that work here in a real high-pressure cooker environment.

“It means so much. To show this is the pinnacle of motorsport, because it's a company like Mercedes that wants to compete in this.”

From the building blocks of the past, to the stability of the future, Ron knows no stone has been left unturned in the search for success.

“I believe, from when we started, we weren't sure how long this would last. But if you look at Brackley now, and who we are now in Mercedes, you can see it's built for the future,” he continues.

“We're meant to be the jewel in the crown for Mercedes. Every time we get out of bed in the morning, that's what we're trying to accomplish."

“We’ve achieved incredible results, but we can't rest on those results, because it's now that matters."

“There is always the next dream to chase."